Back when “retail” meant a store you could walk into, selling a business was generally a local affair. Sellers marketed their opportunities for sale in the newspaper, or on geographically-focused marketplaces. Business owners and brokers met face-to-face with prospective buyers, and due diligence was mostly hands-on.
A Global Marketplace
The world has changed, of course. A retail store is now just as likely to be online as off. Ecommerce companies sell their products and services to customers globally, and are often not geographically tethered by leases, furniture and fixtures, and staff. Most are relocatable. As a result, the buyer universe for ecommerce stores and other online businesses can be much larger than for traditional brick and mortar businesses. Sellers have the opportunity to generate more buyer competition, translating to a higher purchase price.
Not surprisingly, a highly specialized brokerage community has emerged to address the needs of ecommerce sites and other web-based business sellers. This new guard of online business brokers is equipped with the resources and digital tools needed to unlock a global universe of buyers.
Highly Specialized Online Business Brokers
Empire Flippers for example, has over $7bn in buyer liquidity and over 250k active users internationally. In addition to robust digital marketing capabilities, the firm has a sophisticated buyer vetting process requiring buyers to prove available funds before viewing diligence materials. They work with businesses of all sizes, and on the lower end, enable the acquiring of businesses at the click of a button. Website Properties utilizes a multi-pronged marketing approach including advertising on search engines like Google, posting their opportunities in the featured listings spots on over a dozen business opportunity websites, and direct email alerts to their 40k qualified targeted subscribers. QuietLight’s team of brokers are mostly internet entrepreneurs themselves. Partner and broker Joe Valley wrote The Exitpreneur’s Playbook, sharing real-life stories of successful and failed digital exits. The team’s hands-on experience benefits its clients in many ways, including driving significant traffic to their site through the firm’s blog and social media posts. A number of other top online brokerages, including Acquisitions Direct, App Business Brokers, and Latona’s, all have robust digital capabilities and unique skill sets to offer their clients.
Cast a Global Net
So, if you’re looking to sell your online business, the world truly is your oyster. Take advantage of the digital tools and resources available to you to cast a global net. With the right team and strategy in place, you’ll greatly increase your chances of finding that perfect “pearl” of a buyer. For additional information about business brokers, read 7 Reasons to Hire a Business Broker.
Images from Pixabay
